I guess what I’m getting at is that the Warner Brothers and Sister were always funny because of their… lack of boundaries and general over-the-topness. I mean, the whole “Hello Nurse!” bit was funny back then because even at the time, it was kind of over the top. Same with a lot of the other stuff they did- it was all cartoon violence and by extension, it was cartoon harassment and lack of boundaries.
Having Yakko, Wakko and Dot obey the rules would kind of suck the fun out of them. But the rules have changed, and I suspect what would be pushing today’s rules in 2020 would be kind of tame and lame to a lot of us more used to the mid-90s version.
I never had a problem with Hello Nurse being constantly objectified. Of course I’d find that disgusting in reality, but cartoons are nothing like reality (no matter what Cartoon Network thinks). Heck, pretty much the entire Warner Brothers canon going all the way back to Looney Tunes had skirt chasing. My understanding that it’s only a problem if you’re supposed to identify with the harrassers, and…I’m sorry, I can’t imagine even the most far out degenerate identifying with Yakko or Wakko.
Anyway, the thing about the Warners is that they’re the definition of capriciousness. Sometimes they genuinely want to help but aren’t very good at it (Temporary Insanity), sometimes they deliver vigilante justice (Broadcast Nuisance), sometimes they’re unlikely heroes (Mobster Mash), sometimes they’re obnoxious brats who make a mess of everything (U.N. me), sometimes they’re making the best of a bad situation (Boot Camping), and sometimes they’re at a loss and need help (The Sound of Warners). Being completely unhinged meant that there were great and terrible stories, times when you loved them and times when you wanted to take a bazooka to them, but no matter what they were memorable, and that, more than anything, gave them enough clout that we could have this revival in the first place. (Getting all the educational songs didn’t hurt either). My main concern now is, is this hot-and-cold approach going to sell in today’s interconnected world? If we have an episode where they torment a psychiatrist or wreck a candy store, will Hulu’s audience be so understanding? It’s almost worth watching just to see what the responses will be like.
I definitely think it’s going to need a lot more supporting cast than Pinky and the Brain. It’s good that they’re dropping Buttons and Mindy, Chicken Boo, The Hiphippos, Minerva…well, everybody, to be brutally honest…but we’re going to need replacements. And they need to interact with the Warners with more than the occasional cameo or song segment. One of the things I really like about Tiny Toon Adventures was that these characters were all in the same world, they all knew each other, and there could be a lot more kinds of stories because of that. That’s how we got Shirley The Loon teaching refinement to Dizzy Devil and Furball trying to eat Arnold. Who’s the new Slappy? That’s my #1 question.
nightshadea - Histeria? Not-terrible pre-internet filler fix, nothing more, and pretty much completely forgettable. I mostly recall that it vacillated between trying way too hard (particularly the stuff with Big Fat Baby…triple blech) and not trying all. I certainly don’t remember learning anything from it. Cracked.com will always be my go-to history source.
I figure back in 1997, everyone knew it was cartoon objectification and cartoon harassment, just like the violence was also cartoon.
But I also don’t doubt that in 2020, a certain segment of people will absolutely lose their shit if they do the Hello Nurse! stuff, because it’s normalizing and teaching children that it’s ok, or something.
That’s kind of my point- people don’t seem to have much of a sense of humor anymore, and while I think in 1997, nobody took it seriously, some people will take it seriously in 2020.
I don’t want to psychoanalyze the show. I was in high school when it came out and I was obsessed with it. My brother and I watched a few episodes recently, trying to get his kids to watch (8 and 10). They up and left but we still guffawed and watched to the end. I was struck with how dated the references were already!
I have one of the Animaniacs DVD collections, and my kids (15 and 13 now) watched the whole series years ago when it was on Netflix. They loved it. I dont subscribe to Hulu but might do a free trial to check this out.
::looks at avatar:: I never would’ve guessed.
One thing I’ll always remember about Animaniacs… I’ve always loved classic rock. Sometime in the early 2000’s I caught a rerun or was watching a taped episode of Animaniacs and the Slappy Squirrel short where she ends up at Woodstock came up. Slappy hears Janis Joplin singing and says “oops, someone just ran over a dog.” Ive never been able to not hear that whenever I hear a Janis Joplin song. Pretty much ruined Janis for me.
These are the times that took away Elmer Fudd’s shotgun, y’know…
I dunno… have you looked at the Internet comment sections/social networks lately?
Which goes to the point of that the studio won’t want an exact re-creation, but will want to thread the needle on how much to give to the old viewers and the new. Here’s to the creative team having kept sharp.
I’ve been reading up on the initial reaction to the early announcement, and the thing that really stands out for me is how astoundingly specific nearly everyone’s likes are. You have the ones demanding an update to Nations of the World, the ones who only watch for the “adult humor” (“finger Prince” is practically a meme at this point), the ones clamoring for a return of Hello Nurse and/or Minerva Mink (The latter I find baffling, as she was a completely generic teasing sexpot who had two freaking cartoons that weren’t ensemble pieces; at least Nurse had some depth to her.), a handful of Slappy Squirrel fans, and every so often you’ll run into someone who really wants Goodfeathers or Rita and Runt. The thing I discovered early on was that to really appreciate this show, you had to like, or at least tolerate, lots of different things, because the one thing you loved the most wasn’t going to be on much of the time.
I’m cautiously optimistic about this new series, mostly because the cast/staff members we’ve seen so far sound really fired up for it. My main initial concern is if the new characters, in particular the inevitable replacement for Thaddeus Plotz can develop a believable and funny relationship with the Warners. They get that down, that’s at least a third of a way to a successful season right there.
(Oh yeah, and really, really hoping to hell this eventually gets a DVD release. Neither my resources nor my patience are unlimited, dangit.)
